DPS VS Our Own

YTCA Students Playing Match

Sharjah: Young Talent Cricket Academy once again proved their dominance in the Sharjah Cricket Council Inter Academy Under-13 tournament, after defeating G Force Academy in the final by four wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

They won the title for the second year in succession through Fahad Nawaz’s fine all-round performance.

Speaking to Gulf News after the final, Shahzad Altaf, the chief coach of the YTCA, said: “The boys worked hard through a winter vacation camp training every day from 9am to noon. We were able to beat strong academy teams such as the International Cricket Council (ICC) Global Academy, Desert Cubs and G Force purely due to the combined effort and determination of the boys to work hard after every match.

“Moreover, our team trains on our academy’s turf wickets at the Skyline University campus every day. We have won the tournament twice and we will now aim to achieve a hat-trick in this tournament next year.”

After winning the toss, YTCA elected to bowl, and their bowlers went for the kill from the start and bowled out G Force for just 68 runs in 18.2 overs. Left-arm spinner Fahad Nawaz bagged three wickets, backed by Osama Hassan and Ali Mirza with two each. YTCA reached the target in 19.1 overs, with Nawaz also sparkling with the bat in scoring 16. Meanwhile, Sparsh Hegde top-scored with 22 runs.

“Nawaz, who bowls left-handed and bats right handed, was outstanding throughout the tournament. We lost to only Emirates Cricket Training (ECT), Sharjah in the tournament. Following the defeat, our boys worked harder at the training sessions and returned to beat all the teams. Our academy director Sunil Asrani will give full playing kit to all the players for winning the tournament,” added Shahzad.

G Force’s Devansh Popley and Anirudh Murali took two wickets each, but that was not enough to stop YTCA from reaching the target.

Presenting the awards, Waleed Bukhatir, the Vice-Chairman of the Sharjah Cricket Council, said: “This tournament is a good opportunity for youngsters to display their skills and clinch a place in the UAE team in future. We also plan to stage the Under-16 inter academy tournament from the first week of February with 16 teams.”